The biggest chunk of the $2.6 million in Livable Communities grants approved this week by the Metropolitan Council this week went to the Superior Plating site. About $712,000 will be used for soil remediation and ground water treatment. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)

Grants boost environmental clean-up for 10 metro projects

The Metropolitan Council is investing $2.6 million to clean up 44 acres of brownfield sites throughout five cities.

This week the council approved its latest round of Livable Communities grants aimed at spurring transit oriented development and private investment in the Twin Cities metro area. The 10 projects awarded funds are expected to create or retain about 1,500 jobs, increase the tax base by $3 million and generate $196 million in private investment, according to the Met Council.

The biggest hunk of funding goes to the Superior Plating site where Florida-based developer DLC Residential plans 472 market-rate apartments and 25,000 square feet of retail known as East Side Station. About $712,000 will be used for soil remediation and ground water treatment. Previously, the project received more than $930,000 for soil remediation and disposal of contaminated concrete from the Department of Employment and Economic Development. The 5.4-acre industrial site is contaminated with volatile organic compounds, metals and cyanide in the soil and ground water. Before it was an electroplating business, the site at 315 First Ave. NE in Minneapolis was a streetcar repair shop.

Two Hillcrest Development projects, located in Edina and St. Louis Park, received funding for asbestos and lead paint abatement. The Minneapolis-based commercial and industrial developer specializes in redeveloping properties with environmental clean-up needs. Managing partner Scott Tankenoff said the different grant programs available to developers help them take the “gnarliest, nastiest and most environmentally-impacted sites” and reposition them.

“So many of these projects going on in the Twin Cities can’t happen or won’t happen,” Tankenoff said. “These programs are absolutely critical to keep the economic engine turning.”

Hillcrest’s multi-phased development at Pentagon Park South in Edina received $448,519 from the Met Council for asbestos abatement. There the developer plans a possible 375-room hotel, office space and retail. In St. Louis Park, Tankenoff said the company is about to close on the 18.4-acre former Nestle Corp. factory property and will have the property ready for tenants within 60 to 75 days of the sale. The Met Council is providing $365,733 in funding for asbestos and lead paint abatement. The project is expected to generate the equivalent of 200 full-time jobs.

Along the Mississippi River in Hastings, Kentucky-based City Properties will use $360,633 from the Met Council to clear asbestos in the historic H.D. Hudson site. The 2.4-acre industrial property was used as a sawmill and lumber yard but will be re-envisioned as a mixed-use building with apartments, a hotel, restaurant and office space as well as outdoor amenities and space for events.

Bill Weyland, managing director for City Properties, said the firm has a lot of experience with historic rehab projects along riverfronts. With historic properties and environmental issues, projects like the H.D. Hudson development in Hastings take more time.

“In my experience they are worth it. You get to save a piece of a town’s heritage and allow people to go back to the riverfront,” Weyland said.

He said he expects to finish sorting out environmental cleanup and the building’s historic designation by spring 2015 and to move into about a year of renovations.

The grants are also funding one early site contamination investigation of the 4.3-acre Leef Services property on several parcels between James Avenue North and Irving Avenue North in Minneapolis. The $50,000 award will go toward an environmental assessment and response plan for the former commercial laundry.

Other grants awarded by the council include:

Hamm’s Brewery Redevelopment, 682 Minnehaha Ave., St. Paul: $385,700 for asbestos abatement on a portion of 8.9 acres formerly home to the brewery. One of the buildings has been renovated into an aquaponic farm and others will be live-work apartments.

800 West Broadway, Minneapolis: $205,800 will cover asbestos and lead-based paint abatement and petroleum mitigation on a nearly one-acre site previously used for a furniture business and car dealership. Plans call for the site to be renovated for office, restaurant and retail space.

Phalen Park Office Center, 777 Forest St, St. Paul: $200,000 to help with asbestos and lead-based paint abatement on a 5.4-acre site that was part of a 3M manufacturing campus. The office building on the site, vacant since 2008, will be renovated for 76,500 square feet of office space.

Mississippi Market, 740 East 7th St., St. Paul: $92,000 for environmental investigation, soil remediation, and soil vapor mitigation on one acre of a parcel that was formerly used for a commercial laundry. Mississippi Market Natural Foods grocery co-op, which has two stores in St. Paul, plans another location there.

Miller Bag Building, 861 E. Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis: $23,600 for soil remediation costs at a 1.3-acre commercial and industrial site that was most recently used as a textile bag manufacturing location. Plans call for a mix of office, warehouse and light industrial uses.